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Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death
Why do think the Old testaments "Towers" over the rest of the standard works? I would like to hear your thoughts
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Of course my opinion is to a large extent founded on feeling and is intensely subjective. But I'll try to make some objective comments.
The Old Testament is painted on a broader canvas than any of the other works. This appeals to my personal taste in literature. (It is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum form the modern short story about suburban angst, etc.) There are the large scale battle scenes, miracles, etc. Also, it tells the entire story--admittedly gilded by myth, but the mythical element imparts its own truth in a way that pure facts cannot--of the western world during a time for which we have very little other history, and is incomparable in this respect.
The Old Testament is also fraught with Shakespearean phychological and philosphical drama, depth, ambiguity and nuance where, in terms of the stories they tell, the other works tend to tilt more toward melodrama (particularly the B of M). Take for example the story of the Rebekah/Jacob/Esau triangle; how do you explain that story? Also, Job's famous words, "Naked I came into this world, and naked shall I go." These little stories were the source of Shakespeare's, Dostoyevski's, Melville's, etc. collective inspiration and genius. I see their works as almost a common text with the OT.
Then there is the voice. Like the Illiad, the OT to me breathes the autentic voice of our forefathers and their tribalism. I love the savage tribalism, the bleak, pitiless world it evokes, etc. Somehow this seems to me a more authentic representation of the subject matter.
Finally, there's something scary and Ahab like about the OT's protagonist, Jehovah, which I see as pure genius and to me deeply satisfying. He's crusty, emotional, and pure eloquence. Really he's an altogether different persona and personality than Jesus of the NT.
This is not to say that I don't think the NT, particularly in the Gospels and Revelations, has many sublime parts.
This is my inarticulate opinion, anyway.